Replacing my destroyed eyepiece(Mak-Cas)

[IWatchStars]

Hi,

I dropped my 9mm eyepiece that was included with my telescope. The drop resulted in a dent on the lens and rendered it useless. My telescope is the celestron nexstar 127 SLT.

I only have the 25mm eyepiece left. The magnification it gives(60x) is not enough for planetary observing. I'm looking for a new eyepiece aimed at planetary viewing.

After reading some topics about eyepieces, I came to the conclusion that the two best eyepieces within my budget(€50,-) are:

1. BST Explorer(8 mm?)

2. Vixen NPL(8 or 10mm)

People also recommended the baader classic ortho 10 mm which is exceeds my budget. And I’m not sure if 150x magnification is enough.

I can't find any shop that sells the BST explorer in the Netherlands so the only choice left that I know of is the vixen NPL. Which focal length is recommended for my telescope for planetary viewing, 8 or 10 mm?  I want to buy the 8 mm one, but I'm not sure if 188x magnification it gives is too much or not. Would 188x magnification result in bad image with average seeing?

Are there better eyepieces within my budget?

[Charic]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-25-12mm-BST-Explorer-Dual-ED-eyepiece-Branded-Starguider-/380679675225

BSTs seem  have an exclusion to the Netherlands, according to the list, along  with  so many other countries?  but email them and ask, at worst, they  can only say no! but if your paying for the postage, or they cut you a deal, who knows?  you won't know unless you ask! The BST 8mm will be comfortable to use, however with your focal ratio of f/11 maybe try the BST Starguider 12mm?

I have some  nice revelation Astro Plossl's under the GSO banner, if your on a tight budget,  about € 55  including postage ( €20  & €35 postage )  from Astroboot   http://www.astroboot.co.uk/AstroBoot  they  are a great, cheap reliable  eyepiece, however their postage is more than the eyepiece?

HTH.

[ronin]

TS sell the BST under their own brand as NED eyepieces, I think it is NED, just they cost more.

Astromarket.be sell them under the TS name also: https://www.astromarket.org

You could also ask 365Astro about shipping BST to the Netherlands.

They sell them and imply they ship to Europe (how long has the UK been in Europe now?)

So they are another option:

The BST's are listed under Planetary Eyepieces at 365: http://www.365astronomy.com/Planetary-Eyepieces

The final one I know of for BST's are Joys Optics again on ebay, not sure of possible shipping but again you can ask.

[Charic]

+1 above, TS N-ED here http://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/language/en/info/p4931_TS-1-25--ED-Eyepiece-12mm---60--Flat-Field---high-contrast.html

[IWatchStars]

Ok so the bst copies posted here exceed my budget.

Are the vixen NPL 8(or 10?) and 30 mm eyepieces my best option? I know the field of view isn't great, but both are probably better that the included eyepieces. I want to buy the 30 mm eyepiece as a replacement of the included celestron 25 mm eyepiece.

[Peter Drew]

A zoom eyepiece would be a good option.